Cowboy Casserole. I reckon there is a splattered recipe card containing this recipe in everybody's mother's recipe box, and just about as many different versions of it!
One version is the ever popular cowboy casserole with potatoes, which consists of a creamy, cottage pie type of base, topped with corn and then tater tots and cheese. I have shown that before on here.
And I have to say that its delicious with its creamy flavor filled base and crispy topping. You can find my recipe for that here.
I can tell you it is a great store-cupboard meal and a real belly busting family pleaser. I have never had anyone turn their nose up at it.
It is a tried and true favourite. Perfect for when you need a quick and easy casserole dish. Perfect for family meals, pot lucks, etc.
I also have made a different version which I got a long time ago from a Bisquick cookbook. You can find that recipe here. It is equally as delicious and involved a BBQ beef and bean base, topped with a scrumptious Bisquick topping.
Another one I have made in the past is sort of similar and called Cowboy Hot Pot. It has ham, potatoes and beans in it and is great for when you have leftover ham that you want to use up.
You can find that recipe here. It is one of those old fashioned types of dinners, the type that you might have seen your Grandmother putting together with a bit of this and a bit of that. Its also very delicious.
The recipe I am sharing with you today is an updated version of the middle one I linked to up there, except that it used homemade biscuits rather than ones made with Bisquick.
I didn't have any Bisquick in the house and decided why not make my own from scratch. Why not indeed.
It also differs in that this version is perfectly sized for just two people. I am only one, so it only made sense that I downsize it for a smaller family.
I try to clean my fridge out at least once a week. I hadn't had a chance to do it for a couple of weeks, as I hadn't gone grocery shopping so I decided to do it before I went last week. I was appalled at the waste, and I am a person who tries to use up everything that I can.
I hate having to throw away good food, but I ended up having to ditch a few odds and sods and have challenged myself to do better.
I used to cook for seven, three of them being growing boys, and then I got divorced and remarried and ended up cooking for two plus the hosts of Missionaries that I was always having over for meals. It was a steep learning curve to go down to two. And now one.
Plus with Covid I am not entertaining much these days, I have the odd day where I have my daughter and her husband over, or my sister, her partner and my dad, but for the most part there is just me.
And, I confess, I haven't been using things up as quickly as I needed to and I am afraid there has been some waste. I have decided to make a few further changes.
One, I am going to buy all of my fresh vegetables, or as many as I can, either fresh at the farm market where I can pick and choose exactly how much I want and need.
Two, if I cannot find it fresh in the smaller quantities that I need, I will buy frozen loose vegetables, so that I can only shake out what I want or need at any given time.
Three, I simply cannot get by using the freezer on top of my refrigerator as my only means for being able to freeze food. I need to buy myself a small additional freezer for the surplus and then any surplus that can be frozen, I need to freeze.
This includes things like peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc. That half a can of tomatoes that I didn't need to use, or that half tin of beans. You get my drift.
And finally, four, I need to go shopping more often. I need to go every third or fourth day and buy only what I need for a few days. The days of me being able to shop for a week or more at a time have ended.
I need to buy less and more often. Its as simple as that. I hate the thoughts of going more often, because I am such an impulse buyer, but I need to also learn to resist the impulse. That great deal that I see is no longer a great deal if I can't use it up and it ends up being thrown away.
Hence homemade biscuits on top of my bake. I can't justify having a whole box of bisquick in my larder if I know I am not going to use it up, or have no place to freeze it.
When I get my extra freezer I will make some of my homemade baking mix to keep in there. It works a charm and is a fraction of the price of the real deal and probably a lot better for you in regards to having preservatives, etc. You can find that recipe here.
And so today I downsized my Cowboy casserole recipe to make just two servings, and I used homemade biscuits on top. And it was very, very good.
I will have the rest tomorrow with a salad. Its quick and easy, and oh so delicious. I served it simply with some sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on the side. (Love my salad vegetables in the summer!)
You may be wondering what to do with the other half can of beans. Why its just the perfect size for a cheeky serving of beans on cheese toast for one. Just perfect for when you arrive home after church and are positively starving!!
A very simple make. Make some toast, spread it with grainy mustard and pop it onto a baking tray. Cover with grated cheese, sprinkle with some chopped spring onion and pop it under the grill while you heat up your beans.
Once your beans are hot and your cheese toast grilled, pop the toast onto a plate and spoon the beans on top. Quite simply delicious!
Have you had to make changes to the way you eat or cook over the past months? Do you find yourself having to cook for few people than you used to? What are some of your hints and tips? Please share with us!
Cowboy Casserole for Two
Yield: 2
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 45 Min
Quick, easy and incredibly delicious. This tasty casserole uses only a few ingredients, cooks quickly and is sized for two.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (275g) extra lean ground beef
- 1 TBS grated onion
- 1 cup (240g) baked beans, undrained
- 1/4 cup (60g) barbeque sauce
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 3 TBS butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
- 1/4 cup (20g) grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/gas mark 7. Have ready a 2 cup casserole dish. No need to butter.
- Brown your ground beef in a skillet. Add the grated onion and cook for a minute longer than stir in the baked beans and the BBQ sauce. You want a fairly liquid combination. If you think it is too dry, add a bit more sauce from your can of beans.
- Pour into the casserole dish.
- Sift the flour, baking power and salt into a bowl. Drop in the butter and cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the milk with a fork, to give you a soft dough. Tip out onto a floured board. Knead gently a couple times.
- Pat out to a rectangle about 1 inch in depth. (6 by 2 inches) Cut into 4 squares and place on top of the beef mixture in the casserole dish. Sprinkle with the cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the biscuits are risen atop a bubbling filling and the whole thing is golden brown. Delicious!
Another yummy recipe, Marie. I found that during this pandemic we were grocery shopping two or even three times a week sometimes just to get out and because I do love grocery shopping. (It's the putting away of the groceries that I don't like, lol.). We are well stocked up! We only have our fridge freezer, too and it can get quite full very quickly. Things can get forgotten. It helps if I plan our meals for a week in advance taking into account leftovers. I would love to come and make you bacon 🥓 and eggs 🍳 preferably on a camping stove on a beautiful fall morning in Muskoka. We're off to have our second vaccine this morning. We'll be there with bells on! Love and hugs, Elaine
ReplyDeleteI, too, have become a household of one, so I love your smaller recipes!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to try this. I make a similar base, we call it Beanie Burger. I usually serve sourdough toast or regular biscuits with it, but will try this version. Much love - Raquel XO
ReplyDelete